


you're my happy place

by skiesbelow



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Birthday, College, Comfort, Eating Disorders, Established Relationship, Hair Washing, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Tenderness, its not rlly specified i just didnt feel like doing any internalized homophobia, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 02:18:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21046682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skiesbelow/pseuds/skiesbelow
Summary: Dennis could cry. His heart was bouncing off the walls. He wanted to run away, wanted to never leave. He wanted everything. Instead he just clinged to Mac like a lifeline and nuzzled his face in his neck. It was all he’d ever needed.how much softness can i fit in a oneshot of college mac/den? *frank voice* a lot.dennis is 21 and not doing so hot. mac takes care of him. they're in love.





	you're my happy place

A person’s twenty-first birthday is supposed to be this magical event, right? You gather up all of your friends, go to a fancy bar - without the worry of getting caught sporting a fake ID - and you drink and laugh and wake up the next day with a pounding headache and vague memories of a night spent well. That wasn’t the case for Dennis. He’d been spending his alone, getting piss-ass drunk in his dorm room at Penn. It really wasn’t that different from the rest of his days. Now, after having run out of liquor a good few hours ago, he was lying alone in his bed without even his twin sister to keep him company; she was in a psych ward for setting her roommate on fire. She was probably the only person having a worse birthday than he was. It didn't bring him much comfort. 

His head felt heavy on his pillow and his lips were chapped and waxy. He didn’t know what time it was, much less which day of the week. It didn’t matter. All he knew was that he was alone, and he couldn’t wait to go to sleep. He was halfway drifting back into unconsciousness, when:

A knock on the door. His roommate was out for the next week, visiting family, couldn’t be him. Another knock, a muffled sigh, a voice.

“Dude, open up,” Mac’s voice called from behind the locked door. 

“Hmnrg.” Dennis didn’t move. 

“You’re not pulling this shit, dude, do you even know what day today is?” when Dennis didn’t answer, he continued, “Plus I have a key, so I’m gonna come in either way,”

Dennis picked up a shoe and threw it weakly at the door.

“Go ‘way.” he coughed, it must have been days since he last opened his mouth.

There was the sound of a key being jammed into a lock. Then the door was open and light streamed in.

Mac froze in place, eyes wide. He walked over to Dennis’s bed and crouched on the floor so they were at eye-level. Mac ran his eyes all over Dennis's body. 

“Jesus Christ, Den,” his voice was coated in concern, too soft. Dennis’s heart ached. He still wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of that level of care from Mac. 

He screwed his eyes shut and pulled the blanket up to cover his face.

“Leave me alone.”

“Not happening, dude,” Mac yanked the covers off of him. 

“Please.” his voice cracked uncharacteristically.

“No.” Mac’s voice was firmer this time.

Dennis tried to glare. He probably just looked pathetic.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Mac asked, rummaging around in his bag for something.

“‘M not hungry.”

“I don’t give a shit. You gotta eat.” he unfurled something foil-wrapped and shoved it at Dennis.

“What is that?” the smell made his stomach rumble, he willed it to calm down.

“A chimichanga! Oh, dude, they’re the best.”

“Gross.”

Mac’s face fell slightly and he set the food on the nightstand. 

“Alright, you don’t gotta eat it right now.” he said annoyingly gently. He placed a warm hand lightly on Dennis’s and jostled it. “You should at least wash your hair and your face, dude, you look greasy.” he pulled his own hand free and Dennis twitched after it. Mac stopped to brush a stay curl behind Dennis’s ear before standing up and grabbing him by the wrist, tugging on it relentlessly until he sat up. “Come on, bro, I’ll run the shower for you.” 

“I don't wanna.”

Mac sighed.

“Alright, then do it in the sink.”

“Too much effort.” Dennis grimaced. “Plus water. Everywhere.”

“Okay, fine, I'll do it then.”

“Huh?”

“Come on, up you go,” Mac grabbed him by the armpits and hoisted him to a standing position. 

“No, dude, what?” Dennis protested but let himself be manhandled and half-dragged into the bathroom. 

He just stood there, staring, for a minute while Mac silently raided his shower for shampoo and conditioner. Poor guy was probably confused because there was no 2-in-1 option.

“This is ridiculous,” he said, when Mac sat him down on a chair in front of the bathroom sink. “I can take care of myself, you know.”

“Yeah? Don't seem to be.” Mac said absently and turned on the tap, plugging the sink. "Take off your shirt, man."

“What? Why?”

Mac stood there dumbly and shifted his weight from foot to foot. 

“Thought you said you didn't want water everywhere.”

Dennis narrowed his eyes but was too tired to really argue. He peeled off the blue hoodie he'd been wearing for the past week, exposing his pale skin and ribs that stood out over the concavity of his stomach a little too much to be considered healthy. He bunched the shirt up in his lap to cover his lower belly. Mac briefly skated his eyes over Dennis’s skin and sucked in a shallow breath.

“Den, I-” he sounded sad.

“Just drop it, okay?” Dennis snapped when Mac’s eyes on him started to burn and make him shift self-consciously.

Mac was clearly not thrilled about the prospect of dropping it but he didn’t say anything more. He turned off the tap and swirled the water around the sink with his hand.

“Lean your head back, okay? And close your eyes.”

Dennis sighed but did as he was told. His head was getting too heavy to hold up, anyway. Mac draped a towel over his chest like it was a goddamn salon. He carded his hands through Dennis’s curls a few times to pull them back and it felt too good to complain. No one had touched Dennis in weeks. Not even to push past him in the hallway. Mac’s hands on his scalp were a welcome feeling, slowly starting to spread foam around his hair, massaging it between the messy strands. Before he could think too much about it, Dennis hummed in contentment. 

“Feels good?” Mac asked, and Dennis didn’t need to open his eyes to know that he was grinning like a child.

“Yeah… it’s uh, it’s nice.” Dennis whispered.

Mac’s hands in his hair grew bolder, scratching at Dennis’s scalp every now-and-then. Dennis sighed. He could feel the tension he’d been holding ever since Mac last walked out the door melt away. They had had a fight. Right now, he couldn’t even remember what it was about, and he could bet good money that Mac didn’t either. He knew with absolute certainty that this was where he was supposed to be.

Mac removed his hands for a few seconds to cross over to his other side, and the loss of contact made Dennis shiver. When he sensed fingers on his skin again, he felt warm all over. He thought maybe he could live the rest of his life in this moment, with Mac looking after him. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a splash of water being poured directly on his head.

“Dude!”

“Sorry, I’m rinsing,” Mac said, continuing to lather warm water around Dennis’s scalp, using his fingers to strip the last bits of foam from his hair. 

Next up was conditioner. Dennis suspected that Mac didn’t really have a grasp on how much one is supposed to use, but he didn’t feel like berating the guy just now, there was time for that later. Mostly he just didn’t want him to stop. Mac ended up basically kind of… smushing the product all around Dennis’s hair with no technique whatsoever, but fuck did it feel like God himself had come down on Earth with the sole purpose of moisturizing Dennis’s hair with coconut scented conditioner. After Mac had rinsed that, too, he handed Dennis a towel to dry his hair with.

“Okay, so, what’s the deal with skincare?” Mac asked, wiping his wet hands on the towel.

“What?”

“Don’t bullshit me, dude, I know you have like a whole routine or whatever. What is it?”

Dennis sighed and deflated. 

“That baggy over there.” he muttered, pointing to the general direction of his make-up bag.

Mac grabbed it and handed it to Dennis, who carefully picked out the cleanser, toner, and moisturizer needed. He started to uncap the face wash but Mac yanked it out of his hand before he could squeeze any out.

“What?”

“Let me.”

“Mac, come on, you’re not washing my goddamn face for me,”

“Watch me, dude,” Mac said it like it was a challenge and squeezed some cleanser on his fingers. “lean back again, okay?”

“Fine.” Dennis leaned back with a mostly exaggerated huff, considering how willing he was to obey. 

“So do I just kinda… ?” Mac mimed something that looked a lot like finger painting done with one’s entire palm.

“No, dude, like, do little circles.” Dennis rolled his eyes and added, “Why do you even wanna do it if you’re just gonna be all irritating about it?”

“‘Cause I wanna take care of you, man.” Mac was looking away, as if that would make what he said less real.

Dennis’s heart dipped. He had about a thousand retorts running through his mind but opted for none of them, mainly on account of the fact that his tongue was now stuck to the roof of his mouth. He was probably never getting used to this.

Mac quietly stepped forward, leaned down, and started rubbing careful little circles into Dennis’s skin with his fingers. It was all too much. Too, too intimate. But not nearly enough. Their faces were maybe two, three inches apart. Dennis closed his eyes and thought about just how easy it would be to close the distance, to get everything he needed in that one touch from that one person, the only person that had ever mattered. But he didn’t. He just sat there and let Mac take care of him.

Mac used a damp towel to clean the foam off of Dennis’s face. Dennis opened his eyes to find Mac just kind of… gazing at him. His brown eyes were completely transfixed on Dennis’s face, studying him. Dennis could feel it in every nerve ending on his skin. He couldn’t breathe. He closed his eyes again. He was slipping back into that relaxed state, when:

“Booooop. All done.”

“Did you just boop me?” Dennis snapped his eyes open to gape at Mac. 

“Yeah, I did a little bit.”

“Why?” his cheeks were pink.

“I dunno. Felt like it.” Mac said so simply it made Dennis want to cry. 

He eyed Mac hesitantly but couldn’t help the way his heart thrummed even at something as simple as a fucking boop on the nose. Yeah, he was definitely never going to get used to the things Mac made him feel. He thought maybe he could be okay with that. 

“D’you feel any better?” Mac asked.

Dennis thought about saying ‘I was fine before, don’t worry, I don’t need you to take care of me’, but something about the earnest way Mac was looking at him, eyes wide and hopeful, made him swallow all of those lazy lies and instead just give an honest nod and small smile.

Mac beamed like the goddamn sun. He was so easy to make happy it was unbelievable and, between you and me, really fucking adorable. He brushed back a few stray strands of Dennis’s towel-dry hair and kissed him softly on the mouth. Dennis melted into it immediately, taking a long breath in and finally releasing his grip on his own hoodie in favor of winding his hands around the back of Mac’s neck, pulling him closer. Mac steadied himself by grabbing hold of the sink and shuffling forward so that he was almost sitting on Dennis’s lap. It was definitely not the most comfortable of positions, but Dennis didn’t dare break away. Instead he slid one hand down from Mac’s neck and onto his back, squeezing the material of his shirt between his fingers and drawing him down. Mac pushed forward until Dennis was leaning back against the edge of the sink, digging uncomfortably into his shoulder blades. Dennis pulled him away by his shirt, causing the other to stumble.

“Can we like, move somewhere where I’m not being stabbed in the back,” Dennis breathed, jerking his head toward the sink which was growing into a massive pain.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Mac replied and kissed him once more.

He slid his hands under Dennis’s thighs and before he could grasp the situation, Dennis was being lifted into the air with surprisingly strong arms. His legs and arms tightened around Mac’s waist and neck on pure reflex as he gasped.

“No, no, no, Mac, you’re not fucking carrying me,” 

“Hm, kinda seems like I am. Tough luck, bro,” Mac said in that infuriating tone, a lovechild of cockiness and bewilderment.

Dennis wanted to argue, but there was something insanely comforting about the way Mac held him. Not to mention how fucking hot it was that he could just scoop Dennis up like he weighed nothing more than a feather. So, Dennis opted for burying his face in Mac’s warm neck as he carried him toward the bed. He carefully slid his hands forward to grab Mac’s face and kiss him hard, before kicking at his thigh and kindly telling him to put him the fuck down. Mac complied and lowered Dennis effortlessly onto the messy bed. Dennis laid down on the sheets and pulled Mac in by the wrists, making the other stumble and topple over, nearly crushing Dennis. 

“Watch it,” Dennis said breathlessly. He didn’t give Mac any time to apologize though, immediately flipping them over and covering his face and neck in hasty kisses. 

“What’s gotten into you, man?” Mac asked, clearly baffled by Dennis’s sudden enthusiasm.

“I missed you,” Dennis responded between kisses before he could stop himself. “I missed you so much, baby,”

“You did?” 

Dennis stilled for a second, pulling back to look Mac in the eyes.

“Of course I did.” he said honestly. “I love it when you take care of me, baby, I love… I love you.”

Mac’s eyes widened. Dennis shifted uncomfortably. Was that too far? Were they not there yet?

“I meant, uh, I-” he started, but before he could even come up with an end to that sentence, Mac kissed him which so much intensity it was like he was underwater and Dennis was an oxygen mask.

“Dennis,” he said, after the kiss was over. “I love you too.” he cupped Dennis's cheek in one warm hand. "Happy birthday, Den."

Dennis could cry. His heart was bouncing off the walls. He wanted to run away, wanted to never leave. He wanted everything. Instead he just clinged to Mac like a lifeline and nuzzled his face in his neck. It was all he’d ever needed.

**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading! leave comment/kudos if u enjoyed <3 
> 
> hmu on tumblr at viggiomorgensteine (temp url for october, normally i go by veganglenn)


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